Chapter 317: The Great Jing Immortal Dynasty (Part 5)

Just as everyone around was growing anxious,
Su Chen finally moved.
His fingertips glided across the chessboard.
Indistinctly, a clash of supreme experts erupted, a fierce battle breaking out.
This battle caused a flicker of amazement to flash in the old man's eyes.
"Not bad."
This seemingly casual comment was no less impactful than a pebble dropped into a calm lake, creating ripples across the water.
In the past six months, they had never heard the old man utter a single word of praise for anyone.
"Who is that little fellow's offspring? He actually received such praise!"
"No, I feel this is an old monster who has cultivated to the point of rejuvenation, perhaps an elder of that little girl. After all, even I can't fathom the depth of his strength; it's utterly unfathomable."
"Nonsense! This is the current Emperor's ninety-ninth prince!"
"The ninety-ninth prince...it's him! The one the Heavenly Physician Emperor predicted would be unable to cultivate and wouldn't live past a hundred?"
"How is that possible? Even the peerless talent of the Zhuge family didn't receive a single word of praise from him. The ninety-ninth prince isn't incapable of cultivation, so why can he see through the mysteries of the chessboard?"
"......"
When Su Chen's identity was guessed, everyone was astonished.
The ninety-ninth prince of the Great Jing Dynasty was a useless person incapable of cultivation.
But...this 'useless person' actually surpasses even Zhuge Yao, the first talented woman of the Zhuge family, in his mastery of chess.
"What a pity... No matter how profound his skill in chess, the ninety-ninth prince ultimately cannot cultivate it."
Without cultivation, even the most astonishing person cannot live past a hundred years.
A hundred years, for them, might be a long journey, a fleeting insight, or a breakthrough—and it's over.
Su Chen focused entirely on the chessboard.
Countless astonishing beings perished.
Su Chen didn't care.
Those powerful and astonishing beings were merely pawns in his eyes.
His goal was singular:
To annihilate the heavens!
The old man squinted at the chessboard.
A hint of horror flickered in his eyes.
This wasn't just a half-move victory.
He was utterly powerless to resist!
"You lost."
As a rather childish voice fell,
The chessboard began to crack, gradually disintegrating into nothingness.
"Who...who lost?"
The surrounding onlookers were utterly bewildered.
They hadn't figured it out yet.
The outcome of this game was already decided.
"It is I who have lost... Young friend, your wisdom is so high, I am ashamed to admit my inferiority,"
The old man readily admitted, completely unconcerned about the commotion around him.
Nan Hongsang revealed her adorable little tiger teeth.
She was very happy that Su Chen had won.
Su Chen was also allowed to choose an item from the old man's treasure vault as promised.
The old man's treasure vault contained many innate treasures, even treasures coveted by Emperor-level experts.
However, Su Chen didn't even glance at those treasures.
His gaze fell on a dark, black stone.
"This is it."
Compared to the dazzling array of treasures, this stone seemed ordinary.
Su Chen immediately took a liking to this ordinary stone.
Because... he couldn't discern the stone's origin.
He could only vaguely sense its extraordinary nature.
This further solidified Su Chen's choice.
"I never expected you to choose it..."
The old man was surprised when he saw the item Su Chen had chosen, but that surprise was quickly replaced by melancholy.
"Perhaps this was fate..."
The old man smiled, then slowly rose, leaning on his staff, and disappeared into the distance, like a phantom fading into the world.
"A true Emperor-level expert!"
An Emperor-level expert, above the Thirty Tribulations Ruler level.
It's been a long time since such an expert has appeared in the Three Thousand Provinces.
Su Chen watched the old man's departing figure, toying with the black stone in his hand.
He needed to go back and study what this thing was.
......
Time flies like water.
Ten years have passed in the blink of an eye.
Since that trip out of the palace ten years ago...
After the six-year-old Nan Hongsang defeated Song Wuxin, the number one genius of the Ten Imperial Palaces Martial Arts Competition, with a single move, she was vaguely hailed as the number one female martial god of the Great Jing Dynasty!
A peerless genius of the younger generation of the Great Jing Dynasty.
As for Su Chen…
His name was gradually fading.
None of the powerful figures in the entire Heavenly Capital could recall that game of chess from the past.
Su Chen knew that the Emperor-level being had erased his traces.
In a cold, deserted pavilion,
a young man in white robes sat cross-legged on the ground, his clothes neat and spotless, holding a thick ancient book in his hands.
The book was on its last page.
As the last page closed,
another wisp of aura appeared on the halo behind Su Chen's head.
The halo of wisdom behind his head shone with an undying brilliance.
After a long while, the halo gradually disappeared.
Su Chen's aura was calm, serene as still water, as if he had everything under control.
In the past ten years, he had studied countless cultivation techniques and supernatural abilities in the Great Jing Dynasty's Scripture Pavilion.
With his comprehension…
The profound principles contained in cultivation techniques and supernatural abilities below the Emperor level were as clear to him as the lines on his palm; he could fully comprehend them with a single glance.
As for now… Su Chen estimated that with his Path of Wisdom, killing a Great Emperor wouldn't be a problem.
Except for the Path of Wisdom.
A black stone appeared in Su Chen's palm.
This was the opportunity Su Chen had obtained from the mysterious old man.
This opportunity… was called the Human Emperor Stone.
Within the Human Emperor Stone was a cultivation technique called the Human Emperor's Art.
Calling it a technique was less accurate than calling it a Path of Heaven, cultivated by emperors of the ancient human race.
"Is this an enhanced version of the Imperial Supreme Scripture?"
Absorbing the fortune of heaven and earth to forge the Human Emperor's throne.
If he could truly become a Human Emperor.
Su Chen estimated that the probability of achieving immortality through the Human Emperor's Art was even greater than that through the Path of Wisdom.
Only children make choices.
An old monster like him would definitely want them all.
The only thing that gave Su Chen a headache was
he still had ninety-eight brothers and sisters above him.
Moreover, there was also a crown prince.
Cultivating the Human Emperor's Technique and forging the Human Emperor's throne was a long and arduous journey.
Su Chen left the library.
He suddenly felt a tremor.
The wheel of wisdom in his mind spun, and a new piece of information appeared in his mind.
"So that's how it is..."
Su Chen returned to his residence.
In the residence, there was a familiar figure.
The woman was heroic and spirited, not inferior to any man.
However, a few traces of sadness appeared between the girl's brows.
"Little Chenzi... I'm going to fight on the battlefield with my father and brothers."
The Nan family's ancestral precept dictates that everyone, regardless of gender, must experience battle.
Only in this way can they raise children who are not useless.
Nan Hongsang possesses the Martial Immortal Physique, and she is no exception to the Nan family's ancestral precept.
Nan Hongsang was reluctant to leave.
What she was reluctant to leave behind was not the prosperity of Tiandu.
"Little Chenzi, I will never be able to eat Worry-Free Cake again... and I won't see you for a very, very long time."
"How about... we get married today? Just twenty Worry-Free Cakes will suffice."
Nan Hongsang blinked, looking at Su Chen.
Her eyes were filled with expectation.